Steven Okeke, the creator of The Philip Goldson Bust that was knocked down the morning of the Belize City Carnival Jouvert on September 9th, is out from retirement temporarily, he says. That's after he signed an agreement with The Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing to make the repairs to the famous Goldson bust which once sat beneath the overpass on the Philip Goldson Highway.
Okeke swore up and down in a facebook post following the incident that fixing the bust was out of the question and he wanted nothing more to do with what he called "a traumatic experience" for him when he first created the piece. We met with him today to find out why he had a change of heart:
Steven Okeke, Sculptor
"Well I agreed to that because you know first when Mr Moody called he was very respectful and very professional and usually I expect those calls to be confrontational to call and run me down but when he called he was very professional and respectful so I didn't have a lot of fight to put up but also a lot of Belizeans have come by and called and made presentation and say hey we acknowledge we haven't treated you well all these years and we have always been saying anyone else can do it. But it's obvious now that only you can do it and you who has been doing it and even though you say you won't do it anymore we want you to make an exception. And when elders come around and older people come around they say hey do this for us, you just have to do it and of course I respect the man's memory and I don't want anything to be put up there doesn't reflect the great man and the great icon that Phillip Goldson is."
JO-
"So what's different this time? Why did you agree to fix the bust after you said that you won't?"
Steven Okeke, Sculptor
"Because it's Phillip Goldson and as I said a lot of Belizeans elderly Belizeans, young Belizeans came around and said we had no idea this thing was happening to you we are now becoming aware of who Phillip Goldson is."
JO-
"So you made an exception for the man because of his achievements, it has nothing to do with the amount of money that they are offering you to fix it?"
Steven Okeke, Sculptor
"Oh God knows how much amount of money you are offering me to fix it I am a Masterrrrrrrrrrrrrr….. You know what it means to be a master in the art? When you have a senior counsel in law, an attorney who is the senior counsel, you don't pay chump change. If I've been sculpting for 45 years you don't pay me chump change. But because it is Phillip Goldson it is worth everything."
The Contract value for restoring the bust is valued at $10,000 dollars, given all the cracks and fissures that are in need of repair within the exterior and interior of the piece. Though he maintains that it isn't about the money but more about the man it was modeled after, it begs the question as to whether he would have done the job for free, which he says is an insult to everyone:
JO-
"So you would have fixed it for free as long as the materials were available to you?"
Steven Okeke, Sculptor
"It would be insulting you and insulting Belizeans to want to fix it for free it's like you go to a dustbin garbage and want to pick on old pans and wash it up in order to give your father or mother or thank them for how much you have sacrificed to send it to school and to make you somebody. Who do you think that insults? Not them, You. So if you are suggesting or even thinking, even if I offered to fix it for free you should say Steven Shut up stop your rass let's get it done in a very honorable way."
According to Okeke's contract the bust will be finished with repairs by 45 days. It will be placed back at the same location on the highway.
